Redeemed Blood
by SoulofChrysamere
Summary: An outlaw and monster hunter and devout Nine Divines follower runs afoul of a vampire's bite.
1. Chapter 1: The Cave

REDEEMED BLOOD

Chapter 1: The Cave

Djeski crept through the marshy underbrush of Blackwood's swampy forest slowly and surely, taking care to remain in the heaviest thickets and to make sure she didn't cause noise by disturbing the calve-deep swamp water. The onset of dusk had bathed the countryside in a dull orange glow, making the humid mist permeating the area plainly visible as it slinked around the trees in wispy coils. Despite the natural smokescreen, the huntress's restless cerulean eyes maintained their astute vigil from underneath her armored hood, and she could still hear the distant wails and howls of trolls and wolves searching for dinner. Knowing the approaching nightfall would only embolden the predators, she instinctively kept a hand on her longsword. Even though she was wearing her old night-eye necklace, she knew that seeing attacks coming was only half of the ordeal. Surviving them was the much harder and grittier second half.

As Djeski continued her easterly trek, the twilight steadily darkened and she grew increasingly frustrated. When she had left Leyawiin only two hours ago, she expected to arrive at her destination before evening. Now, she was silently cursing herself for believing too strongly in that hunter's estimate as to where the cave was, even if he did say it was due east of the well-known roadside Ayleid ruin of Veyond. He had been thoroughly drunk, and even then, he didn't come across as an overly bright person. Djeski couldn't help her zealotry, though. As soon as the man had said "vampire den", she immediately disregarded his condition. She hardly blamed him for it, however. She imagined most people would turn to getting soused after sighting a vampire, let alone actually being assaulted by one.

Slowly but surely, the twilight lessened into a new evening and Djeski knew that she would either need to find the cave soon or put up a quick shelter until morning. She stoically forged ahead for a little while longer, and just when she started to consider hunkering down for the night, she finally crested a large rock and found herself before a wide cave mouth partially hidden by a curtain of moss that hung from an adjacent tree.

She quickly knelt behind the rock's tip and intently scanned the area, her eyes registering every rustle of a grass blade and her ears noting every sound, no matter how mundane. She also drew her sword and primed a fireball in her off hand. Nighttime had not quite yet arrived, but she knew better than to take needless risks. She had once before made the mistake of assuming that a vampire could not be mad enough with hunger to pursue prey into sunlight. The resulting fight, although years old, was forever etched into her mind. The creature bore a special kind of ferocity, nigh insane from the combination of feral bloodlust and incessant agony from the sun. It was a constant reminder that there were some vampires who would persevere through anything - even having their skin incinerated by the sun's stinging rays – just to taste blood.

Djeski couldn't see or hear anything unordinary, but she knew better than to trust her mortal senses. She pulsed a purplish aura around her sword arm's fist and then released its pent up energy in the form of an undead detection spell. Using the temporary ability to detect necromantic creatures, she looked over the area again. To her relief, she still sensed nothing of restless death. Satisfied she was alone, she vaulted over the rock and remained cautious as she approached the cave mouth from a leftward angle. The faint gleam her silver-plated blade was sporting vanished as she eased into the cave's mouth, and her brown and green leathers nearly made her invisible against the mudcave walls.

She dearly hoped it was the right cave, since she detested the possibility that it was a wild animal's lair and would force her to retreat back into the wild to shelter for the night.

The darkness of the cave's maw fled from the power of her night-eye necklace as she advanced, and she could clearly see the long straightway descending down below the earth's surface. The passage's décor bespoke its age. Dull brown and green lichens painted it from floor to ceiling. Heavy clumps of dank, grayish moss drooped from above amid jagged stalactites. Various flora and fungi speckled the floor between equally rugged stalagmites. Crisscrossing the whole array were laminated layers of large, fibrous vines that managed to burrow through the rock via their turgor pressure. All this was congealed together inside an envelope of thick, musty air that smelled of ripe brine. These types of old, matured caves had always been unsettling to her, as if the earth was slowly swallowing her along with whatever other random debris was around her. The innate darkness did not help either, since it hid things and critters very well. In reality, her precious night-eye necklace was the only thing preventing her from bumbling around in the dark like a fool.

Navigating the tangle of plants and rock was a rigorous exercise in agility, stamina, and patience for the experienced warrior. When she wasn't parting moss clumps, she was ducking under vines. When she wasn't ducking under them, she was stepping over them. When she wasn't bypassing the vines, she was carefully pivoting around gnarled stalagmites whose faces had been eroded into thousands of tiny razors. She had to do it all while simultaneously not rustling the vines and moss too noisily and keeping her trusty sword from getting tangled or clanging against the stone, and all this while brushing off the insects and other pests that called the cave home. She also had to remain vigilant of any signs of habitation. Trickier still, every one of things had to be performed while trying to maintain her footing, which the floor's lichen carpet threatened to steal right out from under her, and while trying not to think about how hot and sweat-drenched she was inside her leathers. The whole affair was a delicately intricate dance, and a mistake potentially carried a heavy price.

As Djeski continued weaving her way through the blockage, the smell of rotting flesh began to reach her nose. She slowed her pace at the stench, not wishing to startle any potential feeders. Much to her delight, the relentless foliage and rock began to give way as the passage started veering to the right. She pressed on a bit more, but paused when she started to get a clear view beyond a final patch of moss and vines.

Through a small hole in all the clutter, Djeski could vaguely make out a small stack of wooden boxes to the left of a narrowing of the passage. The scent of decomposing bodies had gradually greatened as the moss and vines had thinned, and the huntress certainly had a guess as to what kind of boxes they were. She sheathed her sword and unstrapped her recurved bow from her back, drawing one of her special silver-tipped arrows along with it. She gingerly nocked the arrow and whispered a short prayer to Mara before emerging from the foliage.

Djeski kept to the left wall as she slowly inched toward the boxes. As she neared them, she could start to make out scraps of flesh and dried bloodstains on the wood. She also saw that the boxes were open with their lids stuffed behind them, and when she finally came upon them, she could plainly see they were shaped like coffins. It was a strong indication, but she still couldn't be sure if it was a vampire hole, a necromancer's den, or some old, obscure subterranean graveyard pillaged by adventurers turned graverobbers.

She warily edged around them and kept creeping down the narrowing passage. Her undead detection spell was still somewhat active, but it had started to fade. Nevertheless, after a few more steps, her body keyed on something deeper inside the cave. She slowed her pace further and tried to picture exactly what the signal was, but the spell had dissipated too much to offer a clear reading. She knew it was undead, though. She kept moving down the hall with soft and sober steps, wondering in what's presence she would exit. The scent of dead bodies did not diminish either.

The passage had several twists and turns, and Djeski had to slink through a couple more spots clotted with moss and vines. However, she eventually came to the passage's end, which ballooned into a small chamber lightly littered with the corpses of various wild animals in differing stages of decay, including that of a troll, and another hallway in the opposite wall.. A little, weatherworn table stood off to the right, and she could make out a few sundried limbs and flesh pieces matted with dried blood on it. There was also a bloody dagger lying next to the limbs. It was strong circumstance, but it was still a split between a vampire lair and just a necromancer den.

Djeski prudently checked the near corners before fully entering the room. Not spotting anything, she slowly came in and sneaked over to the body of a young wolf that seemed freshly slain. She put away her bow and arrow and redrew her sword before kneeling down to inspect the body. She ran her free hand through the mottled gray fur, checking for signs of damage. There were not any marks on the body's face up side or its back or stomach, and so she rolled it over as quietly as she could to look at the reverse side. The torso, legs, and feet once again looked to be unharmed, but as she fingered through the thick neck fur, she came across a pair of tiny, scabbed pinpricks right where the carotid was. Not yet totally convinced, Djeski momentarily laid her sword down and performed a quick test by lifting the wolf up by its legs. It was an easy hoist – much easier than it should have been. Years of hunting her own meat and skins had taught her the different weights animals had, and the wolf corpse was light. The lack of lacerations didn't lend to the theory that necromancers had eviscerated the body, but the absence of several pints of blood would also reduce the weight. She hardly thought the pinpricks to be a scare tactic, since a necromancer desiring a creature's blood would have found it a lot more expedient to just slice open several veins at once. The huntress's muscles tensed and senses keened as she stood and reswapped her sword for her bow. It appeared she did indeed have the right cave.

She could still sense whatever was lurking beyond, but the spell had mostly worn off and she couldn't accurately gauge distance or direction. She knew she couldn't keep renewing the spell, though. Her primarily Nordic heritage left her wanting in magicka, and she only had so much restorative potion. Consequently, magic usage was a very tricky business for her.

Djeski calmly renocked her arrow and advanced down the passage. It was thankfully shorter, albeit likewise choked by a little stretch of floral blockage through which she had to move. She eventually came to a final corner where the hall opened up into a relatively spacious circular chamber that was just as scruffy as its umbilical with a sporadic mane of moss and vines rooted in the ceiling and walls that hid parts of the room. She could feel the last inkling of her detection spell finally ebb away as she surveyed the underground jungle. However, she could barely make out what sounded like dragging footsteps from beyond the floral veil.

Djeski took a deep breath and tightened her grip on her bow. She knew that even feral vampires could be heinous in combat, and they did not have any social stigmas to counteract their predatory instincts.


	2. Chapter 2: Showtime

REDEEMED BLOOD

Chapter 2: Showtime

Djeski warily eased left out of the passage with her arrow ready to fire and slowly sidled along the wall to try and get a view of the hidden foot dragger and of the chamber in general. There didn't appear to be any other openings, but while the tenant eluded her, she could barely make out a pair of small tables standing side-by-side against the back wall and sandwiched between slews of jumbled crates and barrels. There was something atop the tables, but it was too far away to clearly see.

Seconds were as hours as Djeski kept edging along the wall, and despite her having gone a good quarter of the way around, there remained no sign of the walker even though the footsteps were still softly sounding. She hated the thought of pursuing the noise into the moss and vines, but she started to wonder if endlessly circling the tangle while unaware of the number and positions of the inhabitants was any less dangerous. Indeed, she wasn't even certain that all the footsteps she was hearing came from a single source. She briefly pondered the dilemma, and finally decided that she was better off in the overgrown center than the tuftier edge. She quietly put away her bow and started for a bundle of thick vines.

Djeski the Huntress traveled lightly for a reason. Instead of peeling past the vines and heading into the mess with weapon in hand, she took hold of the vines and shimmied up them as quickly and silently as she could while watching for her quarry. She climbed up near the top and slowly traversed on vine bundles while keenly watching the ground below like a hawk hunting prey. It took about a minute of following the steps, but she eventually came upon a humanoid form with long, scraggly black hair in a sackcloth gown and some kind of extremely worn hide shoes that scraped the earth with each step. The special blend of minced mushrooms and plants inside a pouch on her belt served to hide her scent from beings such as vampires, and so she was in complete stealth.

The creature's back was to Djeski for the moment, and so the huntress quickly skirted to a long vine bundle a little beyond its current direction. She inverted herself on the vines and hung by her legs as she took a special coil of blackened rope and straightened it. At one end was a taught noose, but it wasn't a typical hangman's noose. On the inside of its bottom was a serrated steel blade that had been joined to the rope via interweaving some rope fibers through holes punched into the blade's base. Furthermore, she always kept the blade smeared with a gel that contained silver dust, which both prevented corrosion and enhanced the tool's effectiveness against undead. It also served well as a stealth weapon since the blade sliced right through the throat and neck muscles, leaving the snap of the spinal column the only possible sound. It was her own personal invention, and she was proud of it. It had helped her in countless situations where direct attacks were ill-advised.

Djeski ran the rope's straight end through a loop in some vines beside her own perch and held it with one hand before gently lowering the noose down among some moss with the other. She was facing her mark now, and she could clearly see his pallid, emaciated-looking face with very gaunt cheeks. He appeared to be just slowly walking around aimlessly, like a lost puppy. It was the complete opposite of the common misconception that all vampires were suave and well-mannered beings who carried themselves well and spoke seductively. Djeski knew that the wild ones far away from civilization were sometimes no different than any other feral creature in the sense that their lifestyle was simple and primitive, primarily dominated by the constant search for food and every-so-often honeyed by the occasional taste of a mortal person's blood. She glanced around and, seeing nobody else, prepared her strike.

Djeski kept the noose as still as possible, and when the vampire meandered past it, she gently swung it around in front of him and around his head. The huntress then acted quickly. Before he could react, she jerked the rope upward. The lock proved true, cinching the noose's specially sensitive slipknot and digging the blade into his throat, silencing any potential screams and damaging his neck. Then, she grabbed the end of the rope with both hands and started pulling vigorously. The rope's black coating acted as a lubricant as well as camouflage, and so her toned arms were able to hoist the freshly deceased vampire up speedily and virtually noiselessly. Once he was up there with her, she picked up his legs and ran his lower body through another loop in the vines before giving the rope a final tug and pulling his head and upper body through the vine loop that served as her pulley bar. She then loosened the noose and removed it. She wiped the bloodied blade off on a moss patch before recoiling the device and refastening it to her belt.

Djeski continued quietly making her way through the foliage and listening and searching for any other enemies. After several fruitless minutes, she was satisfied she could safely descend and inched her way down a thick bunch of vines.

Once back on the floor, Djeski drew her sword and readied some flames as she maneuvered through the thicker inner bush to the thinner rim. She came out near the tables and boxes she saw when she first entered the room. She could see more opened and dirtied coffins among damaged barrels and crates, and the object on the tables was now plainly visible as an extremely crude makeshift combination alembic and calcinator comprised of whatever pots and tubing were available. There were a few dusty bottles strewn about it, most empty and a few containing unknown liquids. She guessed there must have been a recent experiment since she could smell the wet muskiness and ashen residue of washed and burned ingredients.

Djeski casually surveyed the motley bunch of containers. Most were broken open and rotting away, and the few good ones left didn't seem to be cared for either. There was nothing for her with them, though, and she turned to start searching for other passages, since she doubted the halfway delirious vampire she just lynched was the only resident of a cave like this.

Djeski was about to leave for another portion of the room when she finally noticed a crack of flickering brightness seeping from behind a thick blanket of moss. She warily approached the light and stood to the side of the moss, slightly peeling back a few strands to try and see past. There was a slightly small hallway somewhat lit by a trio of torches against the left wall that opened up into another small, also lit room like the first one she had reached. She couldn't make out much of the room – only some wooden, square-shaped object with a spigot in it that resembled an improvised wine cask. However, she could partly hear what sounded like a pair of voices talking with one another. One sounded masculine with some kind of human-elven mixed accent, and the other femininely human with a tinge of southern drawl typical of the region. The voices carried the typical serpentine undertones that manifested in the speech of reclusive vampires that lived away from mortal civilization.

Djeski silently huffed to herself. She didn't like using what precious little invisibility potion she had unless it was for a very high-risk target or some other extremely good reason. Trying to sneak down a lit hallway into a lit room while visible was suicidal, however. Knowing this, she slipped a small vial out of one of her armored jerkin's inside pockets, popped its cork, and downed the bluish draught within.

The huntress instantly vanished from sight. Wary of her time limit, she skirted through the moss and hurriedly tiptoed down the small passage. The conversation grew louder and clearer as she went, and as she came upon the room, she followed the voices to a pair of semi-threadbare vampires seated on some barrels among some crates and a couple stacks of coffins with cups of blood in their hands. There was one hallway, just off to the duo's right. Both appeared fairly mortal thanks to their drinks, but their complexions weren't quite totally unvampiric, leading Djeski to believe they had been nursing cups of animal blood. Most notably, they still showed the unsettling bright red eyes born of hunger. From the subject of their banter, it appeared Djeski's first kill of the delve had been something of a scatterbrain.

"So, whaddya reckon that Larsime's doin' right now?" The woman asked in between sips of blood. Her skin was a dull peach color, and her unbound sandy-blonde hair partially framed her slightly gaunt, middle-aged face. She was barefoot, with nothing more than a plain, ankle-length, yellow-green burlap robe on her that looked to be stitched together from old sacks. She sat hunched, and kicked her feet against her barrel.

"I dunno. Probably wanderin' 'round in all that mess again. Guy doesn't know _what_ the hell he's doin' half the time." The man replied. He appeared Cyrodillic with paler skin, and had very short-cropped brown hair atop his somewhat angular face. He was shirtless, and the brownish pants he wore had several large tears in it. He also wore a pair of old sandals. He was leaned against the stack of coffins behind him.

"Heh, yeah. You seen his little 'device' in there on his 'workbench'?" The woman asked.

"Mhmm. And some o' the juice he's made. No idea what that crap might do. Least he keeps to himself, mostly." The man said.

Djeski had an idea of how to deal with the pair, but the passage immediately cornered to the right and hid any wayward traffic. The woman's kicking muffled any footsteps. The seconds ticking by, Djeski whisked over to the hall and peeped around the corner. To her relief, it was an empty, long, straight stretch that eventually ended at a wooden door. It was also lit by torches, but it was narrower and taller than the last one, meaning she could spider her way up to the ceiling and avoid detection. She sheathed her sword and hurriedly sneaked behind the lady vampire, who had set her cup on a crate.

Djeski flipped open a small pocket in her leggings and drew out a pinch of powder. She then reclosed the pocket and carefully sprinkled the dust into the cup of blood, taking care to keep her fingers below the rim so the powder wouldn't become visible once it left her hand. After putting it all in, she gave the blood a quick stir with her index finger before retreating from the pair to wait for her chance. She drifted back over to the hallway to keep watch while the dust did its work.

The two vampires' continued musing about their now deceased cavemate, and the woman took a few more sips of her drink. She smacked her lips in distaste, and Djeski pulled her Dwarven-alloy dagger out of its sheath. Still nobody showed in the hall, and so she crept up next to the man with the dagger in her left hand and ready to strike.

"Not turnin' into a diva about the blood now, are ya?" He teased the woman, noticing her discomfort.

"Nah, this was bearable a second ago, but now it tastes like _shit_." She replied as she scooted the cup away.

"It's animal blood. Of course it tastes like shit." The man said with a chuckle.

"Hmph. You kn-" The woman started. She was stopped by a sudden feeling of wooziness, followed by a stern cough. Then, her insides ignited and she went to her knees on the ground, sputtering and wheezing.

Before the man had time to realize what was happening, Djeski struck. She jammed the dagger into his throat, cupping her free hand over his mouth to muffle his screams. This dispelled her invisibility, but she was already in control by that point. She wrenched the blade around to ensure lethal damage, and then shoved him into a slump over a couple of boxes. During it all, his friend was powerless to help, knelt on the floor and violently coughing as the searing purge of silver dust ravaged her innards.

Djeski wasted no time in ending her life as well. The huntress bent over, jerked her head up by her blonde locks, and likewise plunged the dagger into her throat, mincing her neck.

After making sure both of them were dead, Djeski quicky wiped her blade off on the lady's shawl and sheathed it. Her abilities were respected all across the province for a reason. In less than thirty seconds, two live vampires were now dead at her feet while she lacked even a scratch.

Djeski stuffed both bodies behind some boxes and looked over the room. There wasn't much there besides the impromptu blood cask. A crude, longish table stood opposite where the vampires were sitting with a few smaller crates tucked underneath it. A few cups and a couple strands of rope were strewn across the tabletop. Besides that and the torches against the walls that lit the room, there was nothing else there.

Djeski headed back to the passage and peered around again. Still nobody had come through, but she could now hear what sounded like agonized screams coming from beyond the door. She kindled a pair of fireballs and eased into the hall. She only had one more invisibility vial, and she wanted to save it for when it was absolutely necessary.

She managed to clear half of the hall, but then she heard what sounded like heavy, metallic footsteps against the stone floor from beyond the door.


	3. Chapter 3: Rescuer

Chapter 3: Rescuer

Djeski immediately quitted the spells and split-jumped upward, suspending herself between the two walls with her hands and feet. She shimmied upward as quickly as she could and managed to tuck herself against the ceiling just as the door opened with a woody scraping. An Orcish woman with a normal-looking complexion came through and closed the door behind her. She was dressed in a metal cuirass and matching boots with tan trousers. She was helmetless, and her chestnut hair was bound behind her in a simple ponytail.

At first, the huntress thought her to be an enthralled mortal servant. However, as she studied the woman's gait, she noticed it was far too at ease and energetic for a mortal body to sustain. Djeski waited for her to pass underneath, and then slid down behind her, using the clanging footsteps to conceal her descent. Once she was on the ground, she brandished her dagger and skirted up behind the vampire.

The vampire's own steps left her oblivious to Djeski, and as soon as the two were around the corner and in the room, the huntress punched her dagger into the Orc's throat and clasped her free hand across her mouth, squelching the hissy yelp. The vampire latched onto Djeski's arms for a moment and tried to break free, but her strength quickly vanished and she went limp as Djeski slowly took her to the floor. Once satisfied that she was neutralized, Djeski then stripped her of her armor and stuffed her behind the crates with her two cohorts.

Djeski then started down the hallway again with her fireballs at the ready. This time, she reached the door, and could plainly hear the pained screams of a woman further inside. She couldn't see through the boards anywhere, so she pressed her ear to the wood to see if she could hear anyone else coming between the screams. She took a look at the hinges while listening. They were just wood, and would be fairly quiet if the door was opened slowly. She could not hear anyone coming, and so she slowly cracked open the door just enough to squint through the slit.

Seeing nobody, Djeski nudged open the door enough to squeeze through and drew it shut behind her. The hallway was more of the same fairly naked stone, making it hard for her to employ her acrobatic skills. In light of this, she kept against the left wall and moved slowly. The screams grew louder as she advanced, and she could make out frantic pleas for mercy and help

The hallway cornered to the left after a bit, and Djeski carefully poked her head around to see. Almost immediately, the hall opened up into another somewhat small chamber. Unlike the others, however, this one was heavily furnished. She could see a large, more well constructed table against the back wall with an assortment of blades, tonics, and bindings laying atop it and a few boxes stuffed underneath. Off to the right stood some manner of wooden pedestal with a wreath of flowers and mushrooms placed around its top and what appeared to be soul gems lying in the center.

To the left, a tall and slender man in a plain black robe stood before a small wooden cage with a bloody sword in his hand. His face was the typical sunny yellow of an Altmer, and his facial features appeared perfectly mortal. He was hissing with a sadistic joy that made Deski's insides churn.

Inside the cage, a young Breton woman lay naked and bound in a fetal position by thick ropes. Her body had been slashed, cut, and in some places, skinned. Some were fresh and not yet clotted while others were older and were in various stages of infection. Her deep chestnut hair was matted against her face, laced with dried blood and sweat. Her large green eyes lazily flickered open and closed, indicating her exhaustion. Indeed, her final anguished screams had sapped what little strength she still had. Now, the poor girl was simply whimpering with tired fear on the crude, splintery boards.

Despite the anger building and burning within her, Djeski managed to repress her urge to charge blindly into the room. She quickly drew her sword and fished her other invisibility vial out of her jerkin – she reckoned a young girl's life was worth an invisibility draught's use. A quick pop of the cork and quaff later, the huntress disappeared once again.

Djeski slowly crept around the corner and into the room, glancing around as she went. To her relief the High Elf was the only vampire present. She figured him the leader of the group due to his own private little cubbyhole at the back of the cave, and she knew that if he was older than most vampires, a misplaced strike would turn the controlled assassination into a hectic brawl. Knowing this, she steeled her nerves and leveled her sword at the elf's heart.

As Djeski was about to strike, he crouched and started prodding the girl with his blade again. She winced and tried to scoot backward, but her energy had drained. He reveled in it, and began taunting her while Djeski – now all the more angry – altered her angle. Then, he began running his blade along the girl's leg the, and that finally did it.

"What's the matter, little girl? You don't li-" The vampire's raspy, snakelike mocking was cut abruptly short by Djeski, who now materialized with her blade piercing the creature's heart and sending streams of blood gushing from his abdomen.

The vampire yelped in shock at the sudden pain. Djeski had wrapped her free hand around his neck to hold him still, and proceeded to wrench her blade around inside the wound with her teeth gritted in hatred. The Altmer's supernaturalness allowed him to persist for a few more moments, but he was fatally wounded, and his attempts to escape the huntress's grasp were halfhearted and feeble. Djeski kept her bind true, and he finally fell forward, limp with death.

Djeski caught herself and stood, wiping her blade off on the vampire's robe and sheathing it. She then turned her attention to the girl, who was now wide-eyed and shaking with adrenaline. Djeski kicked open the rickety scrapwood door and brought out her dagger to cut the girl's bindings.

"No, no! Please!" The girl cried upon seeing the dagger, frightened tears streaming down her face.

"Hey, hey, hey. It's alright, girl. I'm not here to hurt you." Djeski said, slowing her approach.

When Djeski crouched down beside her, she broke down and started sobbing. Djeski quickly cut free her bound wrists and ankles, and she gently sat her up against the cave wall. Djeski pushed her frizzled locks behind her ears and looked at her. Her vividly green eyes were pulsing with mixed gratefulness and unsurety, as if she expected her rescuer to be another of the beasts that had been taken by violent selfishness. As the huntress studied her more closely, she realized that although tall, she wasn't a full-grown woman yet. The lass looked only barely fifteen.

"Are...are you..." The girl began in a shaky voice.

"No. No, I'm not one of them, alright? Don't worry. You're safe now." Djeski said softly as she gently grasped the girl's shoulder and rubbed her other hand across the girl's forehead.

"Then...who are you?" The girl asked.

"I'm someone who kills bastards like _him_." Djeski answered as she pointed to the deceased vampire. She then took one of the girl's hands and stood. "Can you stand? We really need to get you out of here and have those wounds looked at." Djeski asked.

"Yeah...I think so." The girl answered. She grunted and, although weak and stiff from days of torture and immobility, managed to find her footing with Djeski helping to pull her up. At first, the girl wobbled, but Djeski wrapped an arm around her and held her close.

"Here, lean on me." Djeski said as she led her out of the cage. "So, what's your name?"

"Uhn...Karthie. Karthie Mebrenard." The girl replied.

Djeski helped her hobble over to a crate opposite the cage and eased her down onto it. "Karthie, huh? That's a pretty name. Now, let's take a look at you." She said as she looked over Karthie's body.

"Everything hurts so much..." Karthie mumbled, fresh tears trickling down her cheeks.

"I'll bet it does. But y'know what? It's over now, alright? I'm gonna get you out of here." Djeski consoled. She drew a poultice from inside her jerkin and dabbed the wounds that were open. There were a lot of them – even on her most sensitive areas.

"Mm...so you killed all those...things...by yourself?" Karthie asked, wincing slightly at the treatment.

"Mhmm. I'm very good at what I do." Djeski answered. After she was done, she repocketed the poultice and started looking around for something Karthie could wear.

"Must be..." Karthie agreed, rubbing her shoulders. Unlike the swamp above, the tunnels beneath got quite cold.

"You're gonna need something to wear. I don't see anything else here, but you could throw on that guy's duds." Djeski said.

Karthie looked over at the dead vampire and cringed. "But, won't I..." She started.

"Well, it's possible, but you have to try really hard to catch the vampire's disease unless you get bitten by an actual vampire. A couple of hours in that robe and those boots shouldn't hurt you, though. It's not that far back to Leyawiin." Djeski replied.

"Well...alright, I guess. If I have to." Karthie said, nervously fidgeting her hair.

Djeski quickly stripped the vampire of his clothes and helped Karthie wriggle here way into them. The long robe pooled on the floor around the girl's feet and the boots were large and clunky, but they would suffice for a small while.

"Alright. C'mon now, just stay against me and take it slow." Djeski said as she helped Karthie stand.

"Oh gods, my parents!" Karthie blurted in sudden remembrance as the two started walking.

"Are they in Leyawiin?" Djeski asked?

"No, they're in Bravil. Stendarr, they're probably worried sick about me..." She said. She had no idea how long she had been held prisoner, but she reckoned it must have been at least a couple of days.

"Well then, let's get you to Leyawiin and get you cleaned up. Then, I'll walk ya to Bravil. Deal?" Djeski asked.

"You'd do that?" Karthie asked.

"It's what I do." Djeski answered.

"Huh. Deal, then." Karthie said.

After a few minutes, the two girls managed to reach the entrance to the cave. Nighttime had settled in, and Djeski knew that the return trip to Leyawiin would be a lot more interesting now that the sunlight was gone.

"So...I guess you're hungry, eh?" Djeski asked as they exited the cave.

Karthie's stomach began growling at the question. She had momentarily forgotten her hunger. "Mhmm. They didn't feed me down there. At all." She answered

"Well then," Djeski began as she pulled a handful of sticks of venison jerky from inside her jerkin, "munch on this. Should keep you going 'til we're at one of the inns in Leyawiin."

"Thanks, Miss." Karthie said as she took the jerky and began scarfing it.

"No problem. And you can call me Djeski." Djeski replied.


End file.
